The Black-headed Grosbeak is a small migratory bird which lives in a wide range, spanning from southwestern British Columbia to the western half of the United States, to central Mexico and rarely Central America. During the winter months, this species typically flies to Mexico to dine on the poisonous Monarch butterfly and berries. This species has an affinity for deciduous and mixed woodlands, favoring areas with large trees and numerous shrubs. They also tend to avoid coniferous woodlands. Their normal diet consists of pine tree and other seeds, berries, spiders, insects and fruit. The Black-headed Grosbeak’s current conservation status is Least Concern.
Black-headed Grosbeak: Large, stocky finch, black-streaked, orange-brown back, black head, wings, tail. Breast is orange-brown and belly is yellow. Wings have conspicuous white patches. Black legs, feet. Forages on ground and in trees and bushes. Eats insects, caterpillars, seeds, fruits and berries.
Black-headed Grosbeak: Breeds from southwestern Canada east to western North Dakota and Nebraska, and south to the mountains of Mexico. Spends winters in Mexico. Preferred habitats include open, deciduous woodlands near water, such as river bottoms, lakeshores, and swampy places with a mixture of trees and shrubs.
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Gary Owen Dick
Santiago Cornejo
The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..
Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.
The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) was established in the mid-1990�s as a cooperative project among several federal agencies to improve and expand upon taxonomic data (known as the NODC Taxonomic Code) maintained by the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
To find the ITIS page for a bird species go to the ITIS web site advanced search and report page at http://www.itis.gov/advanced_search.html. You can enter the TSN or the common name of the bird. It will return the ITIS page for that bird. Another way to obtain the ITIS page is to use the Google search engine. Enter the string ITIS followed by the taxonomic ID, for example "ITIS 178041" will return the page for the Allen's Hummingbird.